F.E. WARREN AIR FORCE BASE, Wyo. -- The 90th Missile Wing missile alert facility feeding operation (MAFFO) on F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming, won the John L. Hennessy Trophy March 1, 2024.
The Hennessy Award is granted to bases with exceptional food service operations, promoting the importance of keeping personnel fed.
“I’m so proud of our Chadwell Dining Facility and missile feeding teams,” said Maj. Jennifer Holmstrom, 90th Force Support Squadron commander. “We didn’t take the win for our DFAC, but we did win this prestigious award for MAFFO and we couldn’t have done it without their support.”
The criteria for the award has changed over time. Bases now compete against each other based on the region they’re located in, rather than size of the installation. There are five categories that are considered when judging the teams: kitchen operations, serving and dining, training personnel, sanitation, and management.
“Hennessy evaluation teams were composed of Air Force Services Center food and beverage experts and National Restaurant Association educational foundation civilian culinary professionals,” said Holmstrom. “The teams conducted comprehensive evaluations of the top four nominated installation food operations in each region, where civilian and military evaluators noted the food service professionals at all operations did an outstanding job and represented their installations with distinction.”
In addition to winning the award for best missile feeding operation, the Mighty Ninety also saw two nominees for the Hennessy Traveler Association award. The HTA award is given to food service professionals who show outstanding performance in their jobs. Airman 1st Class Sophia Plugge was nominated for the west region DFAC operations category and Senior Airman Obed Rascon was nominated for the missile feeding operations category.
The award nominees receive a week of training at the Culinary Institute of America in San Antonio, Texas, with all expenses paid.